Lard and adhesive

Whatever glue goes into glue guns must last approximately a decade and a half in a house without air-conditioning. When I picked up the basket to dust it, a couple of the pointsettias fell off and the rest came off with a small tug. So did the dyed weeds, the paper doilies, and the red-and-green plaid taffeta ribbon wrapped around the handle. This is a good and sturdy basket, of a very generous size. It came to me decorated for Christmas and filled with polvorones de canela. Thanks to Armida's bountiful baking and generosity that basket was filled and refilled and filled yet again. There is nothing like these cookies when made with home-rendered lard for shortening and with very fresh cinnamon freshly ground. The cookies are not at all sweet, but the memories are. Whenever I look at that basket I'm reminded of those cookies and those times and those people.